LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Is democracy in decline? If you talk about the quality of democracy the answer is clearly yes. The US, the world’s first and most important democracy – although at the beginning a limited democracy for white men only – is in trouble.

President Donald Trump has brought old problems to the surface – the money that buys candidates and policies, gerrymandering, an increasingly polarised electorate and a deadlocked Congress. He has added his own negatives – misusing his power to threaten his opponent, Hilary Clinton, with jail, waging a war against the media and attempting to make it clear that he has the sole power to use nuclear weapons and that he will use them against North Korea, even if North Korea has not used its.

GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – In response to the protracted migrant and refugee crisis that has affected primarily Europe and the MENA region, a coalition of international organizations took the initiative to adopt the 2017 Geneva Declaration entitled “Mobility and human solidarity, a challenge and an opportunity for Europe and the MENA region” pledging increased cooperation between decision-makers to address the adverse impact of the crisis.

The Geneva Declaration is the fruit of a panel debate entitled “Migration and human solidarity, a challenge and an opportunity for Europe and the MENA region” that was organized by the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue – a think-tank holding special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council - on 14 December 2017 at the United Nations Office at Geneva.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, one of the most celebrated African leaders in recent memory, will soon pass the baton to her successor, sports hero George Manneh Weah, amidst an outpouring of anger and claims of betrayal by members of her Unity Party whose candidate was trounced in Liberia’s recent poll.

For the international community, it seemed unthinkable that the so-called “Iron Lady” would be ousted from her party – as she was on January 14. She had presided over a period of peace and economic revival and won critical support from the development community.

DAR ES SALAAM (IDN) – Despite efforts to promote gender equality, women and girls in Tanzania are still marginalised and largely under-utilised citizens – often suffering from discrimination and violence from their male counterparts due to a biased male-dominated system which often pushes women to the brink of survival.

However, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), various initiatives are being implemented to empower women, although they still face obstacles that prevent them from reaching their full potential.

Among others, the SDGs call for women’s empowerment, greater access to education, health care, decent work and fair representation in political and economic decision-making processes, and the following are just some of the initiatives in these directions currently under way in the East African country.

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – In February 2016, the U.S. government started discussions with its Icelandic counterpart on the possibility of carrying out necessary changes to the doors of the NATO hangar at Keflavik airport so that newer, larger submarine reconnaissance planes could be housed there. The matter was eventually concluded in December 2017, when the U.S. government agreed to funding.

The hangar is located in the security zone of the old U.S. military base, “Naval Air Station Keflavik”, and the reconnaissance planes in question are of the Poseidon P-8A type, designed to track the increased presence of Russian nuclear and conventional submarines in waters around Iceland – the so-called Greenland, Iceland and United Kingdom (GIUK) Gap.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Nearly six weeks after the Security Council on November 30, 2017 marked the one year anniversary of the signing and entry-into-force of the peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC-EP), peace efforts remain challenged by the task of reintegrating 14,000 former rebel combatants.

The Secretary-General's Special Representative, Jean Arnault, told the Security Council on January 10 that the UN will 'closely follow' reports of a just-broken ceasefire between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Colombian Government. He was presenting the first quarterly report on the activities of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, which he heads.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – A non‑representative United Nations Security Council, designed long ago to maintain a balance of power between rival States, is unable to handle challenges which have changed beyond recognition over the decades, Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, India's Permanent Representative to the UN has warned.

"An instrument that is no longer considered legitimate and has lost its credibility cannot be our hope for salvation," adding that "speech acts" would have little impact, he said in the Security Council's Open Debate on "complex contemporary challenges to International Peace and Security".

KOLKATA (IDN-INPS) - Shashi Tharoor shredded the colonial mindset at the second author meet organised by Kalam Club at Taj Bengal on December 28. The writer-MP talked about his latest book, An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India, Indian writing in English and debunked some colonial myths during a chat with Malavika Banerjee, the director of Kolkata Literary Meet (Kalam). Excerpts from the conversation on the topic, ‘Is the Indian mind the last British colony?’

BUFFALO (IDN) - As its people of the year, Time magazine recently named the Silence Breakers -- people who have spoken against sexual harassment and launched the hashtag #MeToo into an international phenomenon with more than seven million hits on social media.

Just before the announcement, more than 230 women who work in national security for the United States, from former ambassadors to military personnel, signed a public letter protesting sexual harassment, under the hashtag #MeTooNatSec.

TORONTO (IDN) – One day after the European Union reiterated its commitment to support "the full and effective implementation of the agreement" with Iran, the Trump Administration announced on January 12 that it will continue to waive sanctions on the Islamic Republic in accordance with U.S. commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

The agreement between the P5+1 countries (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and Iran is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).